Dragon Hall

The City of Norwich is renowned for its wealth of historic buildings – from the Norman Castle and Cathedral to the Victorian railway station and Shire Hall to name but a few. Dragon Hall is a magnificent medieval trading hall, dating from around 1430, newly refurbished and restored. The modest exterior conceals a stunning Great Hall with impressive crown post roof and intricately carved dragon. Fascinating displays on three floors tell the story of this unique building, the merchant who built it and the importance of trade in the creation of England's second city.

Venue Type:

Historic house or home, Museum

Opening hours

Dragon Hall is no longer open as a museum to casual visitors.

Towards the end of April 2015 the Writers' Centre, Norwich will be moving into Dragon Hall. The organisation will be developing the premises as a National Centre for Writing.

Admission charges

N/A

Collection details

Architecture, Social History

Resources listed here may include websites, bookable tours and workshops, books, loan boxes and more. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all.

Paper-based and downloads

Looking at Norwich Buildings

A downloadable activity booklet which encourages children to look at historic buildings. Suitable for Key Stages 2 and 3. It uses pictures of five Norwich buildings. A good preparation for a visit to Dragon Hall.

Dragon Hall Medieval Resource Pack

Full of detailed information about Dragon Hall and Norwich during the medieval period. This 40 page download explains how Dragon Hall was constructed, how merchants would have traded, the influence of the wool trade on Norwich and its people, and discusses the life of Robert Toppes, who built Dragon Hall.

Boxes, objects and other kit

Learning Programme for Key Stage 2 and 3

We offer a range of educator-led sessions suitable for Tudor, Local Study and Medieval Realms. Most school groups carousel around a number of learning sessions lasting 35 - 45 minutes. Choose from the following: Tour of Dragon Hall, Timber handling session, Merchants' Marks art session, Medieval / Tudor Procession stressing differences between rich and poor, providing a rare chance to process through a unique space, and a Walk along Historic King Street finding out about how Norwich has changed from Tudor times to the present day, looking for evidence in the buildings.

How to obtain

Our school events programme is continually developing. We will be introducing Foundation, KS1 and KS3 sessions in the near future. In the meantime we would be delighted to work with you to develop bespoke sessions. Fill in the online enquiry form, or contact the Learning and Development Officer on 01603 677623/677624 or email learning@dragonhall.org for more information.

Website

E-mail

Telephone

01603 663922

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.